Poets of Colorado Springs By Kareme Erazo

Sierra Sentinel October 2015 Volume 32 Issue 2

In visions of the dark night, I have dreamed of joy

departed- But a waking dream of life and light Hath

left me broken-

hearted.” (Poe, A Dream,

lines 1-4) Just like Poe, I

have a dream, this dream

entails Sierra High

School. Sierra High

School walking upon a

stage and reciting their

hearts to others, hearing

each other's stories and

being able to relate to

what they have to say. As

Mr., Chris Hartman a

teacher that runs a Poetry

Slam at Mitchell High

School states, “Having a

Poetry Slam group empowers kids to tell their stories

to other youths that might have been to a similar sit-

uation that can fully understand. It’s a safe place for

kids to tell their stores through literacy.” Having a

poetry slam group can lead kids to take an oppor-

tunity and tell all the other youths that voice matters,

people want to hear their stories. There is no age

limits anyone can go, it’s

all a judgment free envi-

ronment that is there to

listen to each other. Any

may ask what poetry slam

is. According to a group

called “Here Hear” that

meets every third Thurs-

day of the month it is a

place other than a bar that

poets can go to tell their

poems. According to An-

drew Zieger also known

as “Drew” the group

“Here Hear” is a place

where you listen, write,

and share. Mr. Andrew

al- so

il-

lustrates, “Poetry Slam is as if competitive poetry

and theatre had a child and it was called Poetry Slam

it is a really huge thing!” Poetry slam lets your write

about things that are considered something you

wouldn’t share but, once you talk about the things

that you have gone through the more people want to

share their stories and show that it is okay. You

should be more comfortable in your own skin. An-

other poet who also meets as a member of “Here

Hear” Mallory Everheart states, “Poetry slam helps

with self-exploration and healing, it helps the com-

munity, I found out that when I’m afraid of talking

about something or I’m afraid of being honest about

the experience that I’ve had that if i do that in evi-

dently someone in the audience comes up and says

“thank you for saying that” so off the stage it creates

friendships.” Poetry connects people and makes

them share their stories and lets other people know

that hey, it is okay that you have been through that, I

have been through that also. Clearly, Poetry Slam

connects people and lets them know that it is okay

that life has roughed you up a bit. We need to take

an initiative to have a poetry slam club at Sierra

High School. It’ll let students take an initiative to

come closer together as a school and a community.

Chris Hartman

Mallory Hartman

Andrew Zieger

Youth Poets Take the Stage!

If you do not have anything to do after school here’s

a solution, stop by game club in room 108. with Mr.

Forquer he is the sponsor and would be glad to have

anybody willing to participate. However do not be

fooled game club is very laidback and fun.

They meet on Mondays, some Wednesdays, and

some Saturdays. Also they have a vaiety of games to

be played.

Some games are; Pathfinder RPG, Savage Land,

Zombie Dice, and many more! If you’re unsure about

it ask some of the club members. Just make your way

over to Game club and experience new games to

play.

Game Club By: Tanayah Thomas

P a g e 2 V o l u m e 3 2 I s s u e 2

Drama Club By Allison Cross & Skyler McPhail

Here ye here ye! The time has come for dra-

ma. Drama that excites, drama that pleases, drama

that is timeless. The drama that only comes with the

devotion of your own Sierra Drama Club. Those who

like plays and those who like to applaud their fellow

performing arts majors. According to our beloved

Ms. Schurbon this year will be successful. “We have

a lot of freshmen and new members that will make

this very successful.” Depending on this, we have

lots to look forward to on this upcoming perfor-

mance. “Every meeting for Drama Club will be

geared towards something different that helps to the

whole of the production, like lights, makeup, etc..”

This attitude is not just found with in the club man-

agement it is found within all those who claim Drama

Club as home. RJ Berry can attest to this as well.

Said within an interview it is one of his favorite

things to do. “I would defiantly recommend Drama

Club to other people, because it is the chance to ex-

press yourself in way that most people miss out

on.” Cannot wait for this year's production and to

follow the road to the great success Ms. Schurbon,

and her delightful students promised.

Jason Forquer, Game Club Sponsor

Drama Club Practicing for an upcoming production.

Robotics Club

This year robotics has some big things

planned, from First Robotics Competition

(FRC), Building and navigating a mars

rover across the sand dunes, and of course

showing off at our pep assemblies. This

year Mr. Marro has taken over as the ro-

botics sponsor and certainly seems enthusi-

astic about it. after talking with him he cer-

tainly seems to have a lot planned for this

year and is definitely looking forward to

the new year. Robotics has already wel-

comed many new members this year but is

always ready to accept more. Not only is it

good entertainment but if you have an in-

terest in programing technology or want to

build a future in engineering than

this just might be the club for you.

Our President Shian and Vice

President Raven along with the

rest of our veteran members will

be there lead you through the pro-

gram. Robotics is a great place for

learning programing, learning how

to use many different kinds of

tools, learning wiring, sharing

your ideas and making friends. If

your Tuesdays and Thursday after

school are not busy I would sug-

gest checking it out in room 230.

Are you gay, lesbian, bi,

transgender, queer, or question-

ing? Well if you are SPECTRUM is a

great club for you. SPECTRUM is a

club to create a safe space with accept-

ing people where you discuss different

topics together. The goals for SPEC-

TRUM this year is to cultivate leader-

ship within the community and the

school.

During SPECTRUM you will discuss

things such as terminology, continuum

of sexuality, what’s happening legally,

the rights of the LGBT community, and

how to be an ally. It's always helpful

to have more knowledge and get

around people who are like you and

feel comfortable to talk about who you

really are, while getting support from

the other fellow club members.

Just like other clubs and activities at Sier-ra High School student government, serves a very high purpose to help main-tain the environment and culture of the school. Ms. Schurbon is the leader, and the students are from all different grades and backgrounds. They mainly focus on leadership, and setting a positive example throughout the school. They want as much participation and involvement from the students. Daizha Brown, a sopho-

more, says that Student Government is great to be apart of. She said she every-one gets along very well and that though they can be goofy sometimes, they take their roles very seriously and make sure they make the best decisions on behalf of the school and the students. She also says that Student Government gives her a chance to practice her social skills and get a sense of what it feels like to interact with other students.

Student Government By: Ashley Davis

Christopher Morro, Robotics Club Sponsor

Mac Sergeant,

SPECTRUM Sponsor

Student Government Sponsor, Ms. Schurbon

By: Taijeron Hooks

Spectrum By: Cierra Sims and TyYuana Johnson

S t a l l i o n s O f S i erra

P a g e 4

It's important that we have

hope in ourselves so that we can succeed. Self doubt

is a dangerous adversary and cans cause many prob-

lems and sometimes

keeps us from success.

Jordan Johnson, 11th Grade

“Self-doubt has defi-

nitely caused me to

miss out on a lot of op-

portunities. Although

eventually I have

learned it's better to

just ignore the self-

doubt and go for it. Be-

cause there is nothing

worse than regret.”

By Taijeron Hooks

In today’s society we

encounter many problems, however many of them we

cannot solve on our own. If we had the knowledge to

foresee all the problems

would we actually be

By Karime Erazo

Taijeron Hooks, 10th

Grade

“I don’t think we would

be able to solve all of

them, but I think we

would be able to solve

more of them then we

currently can.”

Heroism which is defined

as bravery, and courage comes in many different

forms. One of our Stallions know this very well.

“The most heroic thing

I’ve ever done is take

my best friend to home-

coming because he did-

n’t have a date. “

Have you ever wanted to

try something new and your parents didn't let you? Or

even they understand anything you did? Doesn’t that

irritate you?

Tanyah Thomas , 11th

Grade

“I would try to get my

point across and what

I'm trying to do in order

to make the situation

easier”

By CJ Jennings By Tanyah Thomas

Autumn Hope, 11th Grade

S t a l l i o n s O f S i erra

P a g e 5

Veronika Loesch , 11th

Grade

“School is my main

priority and I don’t in-

tend on failing”.

It is human to make

categories for things in a persons life . We make lists,

graphs, and calculate all of life's aspects. If we do not

categorize what is

pushed in front of us

we fail at life itself.

By Lupe Barrera

Deciding what you want to be when you’re

grown up is every teenager’s biggest chal-

lenge. Some are inspired by someone or

something

“I would like

to be in the ar-

my, my grand-

pa and my un-

cle are both in

the army and

they are the

reason I would

like to join.”

Lupe Barrera, 11th Grade

There will always be

people in your life that you may not always be the best

of friends with but you will always be there for them

By Ally Cross

Imani Major 11th Grade

“I guess there are some people in my life that real-ly get on my nerves, but I would still do anything for them. Mostly family, like my extended family and cousins. Sure they get on my nerves when they are around but they are still family and I would have their backs always.”

By Senica Tapia

With all the social

interaction that we have in one day, it is very easy

to find one person that disagrees or believes that

your dreams are idiotic

and unrealistic

Cj Jennings, 11th Grade

By Ashely Davis

“No, i feel like people are pushing me to achieve my goals actu-ally, and God is always with me too. “

By:

Tyyuana Johnson

Ms. Barela is the counselor for the

students who are enrolled into the

High School Prep Academy. This is

her second year working as a full time

counselor and she loves every mo-

ment of it. She taught for 11 years but

then started her own in-home salon.

Recently she decided to return into

the teaching environment because she

enjoys being around kids. We asked

what her favorite part of her job is and

she stated, “My favorite part of my

job is helping to remove the barriers

that have gotten in the way of stu-

dent’s success.” Throughout the in-

terview it was very easy to tell that

Ms.Barela cares about her students

and their success a lot. two kids at

home ages sixteen and seventeen so

he is used to dealing with the

By: Briyana Bunson

Being a full-time math teacher is not

something new to new teacher Andrew

Tafoya from Sierra High School. An-

drew worked at Sand Creek High before

coming to Sierra. “Why choose to work

at Sierra?” we asked him. He answered,

“I had an interview with Aaron Griffin

(principal of Sierra High School) and he

said Sierra was the best school, and if

he can believe it then so can I!” Andrew

Tafoya is married with teen lifestyle on

a day to day basis, making his life at

Sierra feel a little more at home. Not

only that, but Mr. Tafoya feels that the

kids make him feel comfortable. Which

he says is his favorite part of working at

Sierra. The kids. Seeing all the bright

and different personalities and being a

part of helping build on them!

By: Maliah Earls

It's time to welcome our teachers here

at Sierra High School and get to know

them more! Ms. Brown is a Science

teacher that's been teaching since Jan-

uary at Sierra. She has been in the dis-

trict for most of her life, growing up

in it, and attending Harrison for high

school. Ms. Brown attended UCCS

majoring in anthropology and UC

Denver majoring in sociology.

On her free time she loves doing

crafts, cleaning and is a big planner

junkie. She says that she loves teach-

ing at Sierra along with the communi-

ty and the kids and she wouldn't want

to do anything else.

Dawn Barela, High School Prep Academy Counselor

Andrew Tafoya ,Online Monitoring Instruction

Whitney Brown, Physiology and Anatomy,

New Teacher Features

Off to a FRESH Start by: Tarik Bektasevic and Alejandro Montoya

2015 is a new year for students to

show up and become a sierra stallion;

a freshman was recently interviewed

regarding how they feel about the new

school year and being at the bottom of

the pack once again. Anastasia Mon-

toya freshmen at sierra high school

was asked several questions about

how they feel about school this year

any worries or any questions about

stuff works here. I asked her how she

feels about this school year and she

replied with “it’s too early to have

any concrete feelings it to early. I

asked her how she feels about her

teachers she said “I like them so far”

she said it’s hard sometimes to re-

member all the classes and to navigate

the hallways” this year we have a new

wave of freshmen who are eager to

learn and are ready to be a part of this

amazing stallion pride here at sierra

high school.

It’s the 2015-2016 school year

and it is a is a typical school day

for us returning students. Howev-

er, this is a whole new universe

for freshmen students. New

building, new teachers, new

rules, and a new position in the

school. The underdog. To most

freshman students, this is a terri-

fying experience, but for Issac

Anderson, he is very confident,

and has a positive outlook on this

school year. I asked him, despite

the negative reputation, how does

he feel attending Sierra.

He answered “I see Sierra as a great

high school.” I don't see why people say

negative things about this school, when

in reality, it’s not bad.” I also asked him

how it was like coming from a middle

school to a high school. He answered

“It's different, and a little difficult, but

as long as I keep my head high, I'll get

through it.” And last but not least, I

asked him about his teachers. He said

“My teachers are nice, they're not hard

on us. Yet...”

Issac Anderson, Freshman

Being in a completely different environment can

be scary sometimes. It may make you feel like you

will never get use to where you are. Like, never

find your way. Depending on how you look at it,

moving to a new place can be a new opportunity

to start over make your life better than what it was

in your previous environment or it can be a serious

back track. Considering that you have to start all

over, making new friends, learning where every-

thing is, getting lost and finding your way

around… new beginnings can be a lot. We all

know that eventually you will get use to it.

The more you explore, talk to people and ask

questions, the more things will get easier. You will

get more familiar with your surroundings, you

might even learn a few things.

For me personally, moving is not necessarily a bad

thing but it is not a good thing either. It is not al-

ways easy to start over and get accustomed to a

culture different than your own. It is hard to get

use to the way people talk, the way they dress and

even act. But moving to new places can be also be

a very educational opportunity. Just make the best

out of the situation and look at it more as an op-

portunity than a drag.

New Beginnings: Not always a bad thing. By Taezya Hitchens

Anastasia Montoya, Freshman

If you are into Rock, and love

the hillbilly style then Rockabil-

ly expo is for you. This expo is

twice a year, falling in October.

This year on the 2nd and 3rd of

October the Rockabilly Expo

rocked for those who would be

called “alternative”, with an ex-

cellent turnout on October 2nd,

the band played for those with

eclectic taste in music, tattooing

was the main event, and many

vendors were unable to attend,

yet had nice setups. Using up a

showroom, to park a few vin-

tage cars, and showcase a few

headlining acts, it goes without

saying this Expo adds a great

value to Colorado Springs com-

munity. This expo is one main

community event that is consid-

ered a non-profit organization,

which support many other non-

profits. In an interview I

learned, that the director Aman-

da Gentile was extremely excit-

ed for this expo. “We support a

nonprofit called Dream Centers

of Colorado Springs. We help

to raise awareness for this or-

ganization by putting them in

front of people they may not

have spoken with before.

Attendees are welcome to bring

items in to help their cause

mostly toiletries and canned

goods. We also help the com-

munity, by bringing together

a community in itself. These

are your "alternative" folks

you might say. Those with

the love of tattoos, classic

cars and pinups. We are able

to come together, with old

friends and new friends and

have a good time, enjoy each

other's passions and learn

from each other.” Dream

Centers of Colorado Springs

is a non-profit as well which

promote and provide health

and hope for people working

to rebuild their dreams. A

good Cause yet in the six

hours in which I attended I

did not see them. When pro-

moting a cause one should be

in attendance for the event in

hope to spread the word as

Amanda Gentile said. Being

the second year in which this

expo has been held, it came in

as a secret and ended with a

bang. Ms. Gentile hopes that

next year, she can get in touch

of many other vendors, in hope

to better promote the aware-

ness and support Dream Cen-

ters cause.

In Like a Secret Out With a Bang By: Skylar McPhail

One of two bands that played on October 2nd

Vintage Cars on Rockabilly Way

Vintage Cars